Closure means for handbags



Sept. 13, 1949.

J. FEIGEN CLOSURE MEANS FOR HANDBAGS Filed March 22, 1946 E uw ( Armi/m Patented Sept. l13, 1949 t v t 2,481,735

CLOSURE S FOR HANDBAGS Joseph Feigen, Brooklyn, N. Y. Application March 22, 1946, Serial No. 656,397 I 2 Claims.

This invention relates to new and useful improvements in handbag construction.

,-Heretofore, handbags with slide fastener closures for-the tops thereof have had mouths which could not be fully opened at their ends. When lthe slide fastener closurel was extended along a side ofthe bag to remedy this disadvantage, another detriment resulted due to the fact that the member of the handbag.

providing a frame and closure means for a handof said elements being secured to the bag and the side portion of the slide fastener elements being Secured to the short legs of the frame members away from the adjacent expansble side. The closure is effected with the slide in the slide fastener terminus at the mouth end. When the bag is in open position with the slide in the side of the slide fastener terminus, the adjacent expansible side can be fully opened, the short legs of the frame being rotatably attached at their lower end and the slide fastener elements being separable.

For further comprehension of the invention, and of the objects and advantages thereof, reference will be had to the following description and accompanying drawings, and to the appended claims in which the various novel features of the invention are more particularly set forth.

In the accompanying drawing forming a material part of this disclosure:

Fig. 1 is a perspective View of a slide fastener handbag constructed in accordance with the invention herein, the bag being shown in open position with portions of its front wall broken away to reveal construction details.

Fig. 2 is a top view of the handbag.

Fig. 3 is an end view of the handbag.

.outside of the frame members, the mouth portion 2 Fig. 4 is a sectional View throughV the line .4-4

of1ig.2.v v

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of they hinged `frame In the drawingsand in the speciiicationein which like reference numbers designate similar elements, 'a ladys handbag 1I 0, .having a body portion II andA two oppositely. disposed'vexpansible side gussets I2, is provided with frame .and closure means embodying the invention herein and comprising two L shaped frame members I3 rotatably joined tc each other by hinge means I 4 anda slide fastener closure I5. l `i The body portionv II is formed to providefront and back Ywalls IIS.l Each gusset I2 is foldable inwardly and extends between the walls'attheir ends from the bottom to a; line-below the top edges l? of the walls I6. l

Each of the frame members I3 is positioned with a long leg I8 extending along and secured-.to the inside face of a wall I6 below its top .edge I'l and between and above the gussets, and with a short leg I9 detached from the bag and extending over one of the gussets and resting beyonditnear its outside face (see Figs. 1 and 2). The two frame members I3 are rotatably joined to leach other at thefree ends of their short legs lI3 :by the hinge means I4. Theslide fastenerclosure I5 is provided with interlocking elements 20 and a tab slide 2I made in the usual way. The interlocking elements 20 extend from a terminus 22 above the end of each long frame leg I8 to a terminus 23 adjacent and outside of the end of each short frame leg I 9, the closure being effected when the tab slide 2I is at the terminus 22, and the mouth of the bag being fully open when the slide is at the terminus 23.

The course of the slide fastener between the terminii 22 and 23 is parallel along and to the outside of the frame member I3, thus following an L-shaped path, with the fastener on leg 24 effecting the closure of the mouth of the bag, and the short slide fastener on leg 25 permitting the bag mouth to be fully opened along the side 25 of the slide Vfastener terminus 23. This is the essence of the invention since it permits the slide fastener on side 25 to be fully opened without being physically disconnected, thus preventing the bag contents from being spilled out. To accomplish this result, the short legs of the frame members and the short courses of the slide fastener extend over and beyond the adjacent side gusset and are detached therefrom.

While the frame members have been described as having long and short legs, it is understood that the same result can be effected by using a vertical frame member detached from and extending beyond the side gusset and attaching the top of the frame member to the walls of the bag.

While I have illustrated and described the preferred embodiment of my invention, it is to be understood that I do not limit myself to the precise construction herein disclosed and the Vright isites'ervedgto all changes and modifications coming within the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims. n Y

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure YbyLUn'ited States Letters Patent is:

11. A handbag having front and backlvvalls in-7 terconnected at their respective bases and :having free upper edges, said front Wall having side edges oppositely disposed and adjacent the 'side edges 1 of said back wall, a gusset secured to each pair fof oppositely disposed adjacent side edges, each of said gussets being inwardly foldable and'pos'i- :tioned'intermediate said front and lback walls,

a pair of L-shaped frame members each having front' wall adjacent to and substantially parallel to said 'upper edge, the other of said frame members having its leg secured to said back wall adj a- 1o n -from one end thereof, said legs being secured toV fan elongate leg and a short foot, one of ysaid 'iframe members vhavingrits leg secured to said cent to said upper edge and extending substan-` A tially parallel thereto and to said'irst mentioned leg, each foot of said frame members extending downwardly from their respective legs and positioned within a fold formed in one of said gussets 1 common tothe foot of'each of said frame mem- =bers,"'the foot of each of said'frame members VVbeing completely detached from said walls and said gussets, each of said frame members being pivotally connected adjacent the free end of each on the foot of said first frame member and having an extension thereof secured to said front wall adjacent and substantially parallel to the leg of said first frame member, a series of slide fastener elen ments mounted on'the foot of the 'other'of said' -frame members and having an extension secured to said back wall adjacent and substantially parallel to the leg of said other frame member, and

"foot, a series of slide fastener elementsniounted aslideffastener mounted on said Vfirst andsecond series of said fastener elements operable to engage and disengage each of said series of fastener elements, one with the other.

2. In a handbag having Vfront and back walls interconnected at their bases and having free upper edges and gussets secured between the oppositely disposed side edges of the walls to" be folded inwardlyv betweenthev adjacent-faces of an elongated top leg and a short foot depending the inner faces of the top edges of the walls, said lfeet being extended parallel to each other and A depending into the fold formed in one of the gussets, hinge means secured to the bottom ends of said feet pivotally connecting said frame members together, continuous Vrows of slide fastener Aelements mounted on the adjacent edges of the legs and feet of said frame members, and a slide ,fas-1 tener pull-tab engaging saidv slidefastener'relements for connecting said slide fastener elements to retain said frame members closed when saidf pull tabis moved Yto one end of saidframe members and for disengaging said slide-fastener elements to free said `frame members Vto be pivoted.

relative to each other when said pull tabis moved to theother endof said frame members. Y.JOSEPHIT'EIGEN rThe following references arefof record 'inlltlie file of this patent: Y l; UNITED Y STATES, PATENTS Austria Junez 10,1 1937` the walls, a pair or" frame-,members each having Y 

